Californians may end up paying the highest electricity rates in the country to charge their electric vehicles, a new study says. The state's tiered rate system, in which customers are charged higher rates as they use more electricity, could make plug-in hybrid and battery-powered vehicles more costly to own, according to a Purdue University study. The study was unveiled as the first of the electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are reaching consumers. Two vehicles, the all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, started being delivered to their first customers last month.

Whether an electric car such as the Nissan Leaf protects the atmosphere from greenhouse gases depends on where it's charged, according to a new study. Electric vehicles are no better than a standard gasoline-powered subcompact such as a Hyundai Elantra in cities such as Denver and Wichita, Kan., but far exceed even the best hybrids in Southern California. That's the finding of a study of electricity generation, greenhouse gas emissions and electric vehicles by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

A new National Research Council report says the U.S. may be able to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 in light-duty cars and trucks. The highly ambitious goal could be reached, the report says, through a combination of more efficient vehicles and the use of gasoline and diesel alternatives such as bio-fuels, electricity and hydrogen. "To reach the 2050 goals for reducing petroleum use and greenhouse gases, vehicles must become dramatically more efficient, regardless of how they are powered," said Douglas M. Chapin, principal of MPR Associates and chairman of the committee that wrote the report.

Rival Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. unveiled prototypes of upcoming electric cars as alternative-fuel vehicles took center stage Wednesday at the start of the Los Angeles Auto Show. Amid buzz about General Motors Co.'s multibillion-dollar initial public offering, major automakers scrambled to show off their latest electric car offerings to hundreds of reporters gathered for a preview of the annual event at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The show opens to the public on Friday.

As the automotive test director for Consumer Reports, Jake Fisher drives hundreds of cars a year and is known as one of the toughest critics in the auto industry. The Times took a cruise with Fisher at the L.A. Auto Show on Thursday and asked what he thinks are the most important new cars to make their debuts at the show. 1: The Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup truck. “It really looks impressive and it is nice to see an auto company taking smaller pickup trucks seriously,” Fisher said.

The growing number of electric vehicle drivers in Los Angeles are behaving differently from the national norm. Not only are EV drivers in L.A. traveling farther than those in other cities, but they charge their vehicles more often at public locations and are more likely to charge at night to obtain less expensive electricity rates, according to Ecotality in San Francisco. Ecotality oversees the EV Project, a $230-million deployment of electric-vehicle charging infrastructure funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy to aid the rollout of electric vehicles and conduct research.

Chevrolet says it has earned bragging rights as the car company with the most efficient electric vehicle. The automaker says that the 2014 Spark, which is set to go on sale this summer in California and Oregon, has an EPA estimated range of of 82 miles when fully charged and an estimated combined city/highway 119 mpge. Mpge stands for miles per gallon gasoline equivalent. PHOTOS: Kelley Blue Book's top 10 'green' cars for 2013 Chevy said the subcompact car will save an average of $9,000 over the next five years, compared with other new vehicles.

Last Friday, I set out to write a blog post that would answer the question, "With gasoline prices spiking, are electric cars really a good deal?" I learned two things from this exercise. First, doing a cost/benefit analysis comparing vehicles is trickier than it seems, thanks to differing government incentive programs that can radically alter the cost equation. Second, readers are really, really passionate about this topic. After having been informed, repeatedly and in no uncertain terms, about my many failings on that post, I've decided to start over -- hopefully screw-up free this time, and with a new comparison among "green" cars.

The Nissan Leaf is cruising at 35 mph when a pedestrian jumps into the roadway. But there's no one at the controls. Instead, radar, lasers and cameras recognize the pedestrian - actually a dummy shoved into the road by an engineer. Computers order the car to slam the brakes and swerve, avoiding a collision. The recent demonstration, at a former military base in Irvine, underscored just how far automakers have come in developing cars that drive themselves. Car companies including Nissan, General Motors and Mercedes have logged thousands of miles of successful tests, with an eye toward selling autonomous vehicles by 2020.

Electric cars are back. Popular in early automotive history, electrics quickly got smoked by their internal combustion-driven cousins. But in this age of volatile gas prices and climate worries, these clean, quiet vehicles are winning new fans. Advances in technology have improved their range and power. Companies are rolling them out in every flavor. Need a small SUV? Take a look at the Toyota RAV4 electric hitting the market next year. How about a luxury sedan? There's the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, which the automaker compares to a Maserati Quattroporte but with better mileage and lower emissions than a Toyota Prius.